by Saxon Andrew
“Yeah, she was able to hit a barrel she teleported out from a distance of six miles. From the range we’re looking at in this action she could probably write her name on the Eight Legs with that gun.”
“I’ll take War’s End; you take the other. Remember, we can’t intervene too quickly; the Red Warriors must be given a chance to trial their weapons.”
“I know; I do fear we will lose some of them. Let’s hope I’m wrong.”
“Melanie, let’s take our positions and get ready.”
“On my way.”
The two small Eight Leg attack ships came out of jump and looked inward toward the inner planets. The first pilot thought, “Let’s get this over with; we’re supposed to see if there is any indication as to what happened to the fourth planet in this system. I think our data says it’s missing. There should be some kind of evidence if the planet was destroyed.”
“I don’t see any intelligent life, do you?”
“No, we just need to hurry and get this over with so we can go have a meal on the next planet we attack. We should get to the orbit in ten hours so get comfortable and let’s go see what happened.”
“Alright Searchers, lift from the moon when the two green ships are six hours inside the jump limit. Make it look like you don’t see them and move toward the moon on the other side of the planet. I’ll keep you informed as to what they are doing.”
“We don’t have them on any sensors, Your Grace.”
“That’s why we are following them in system. We’ll keep you informed.”
“Do you see what I see, First Pilot?”
“Yes, I do; those two small ships just lifted off that moon and are moving toward a moon on the other side of the sixth planet.”
“I see seven intelligent life forms on each ship. Do we have permission to harvest in this system?”
“We weren’t told we couldn’t; however, if we take too long in our mission someone will be sent to check on us.”
“What do you think we should do?”
The First Pilot could feel his appetite for those two ships. “Perhaps the ones on those ships will know what happened to the missing planet. I think it is justified to harvest those ships.”
“Should we notify the Sensor Male of our plan?”
“By the time one of us goes to the jump limit, leaves to tell him, and then comes back; those ships might be gone. We will consume them quickly and then go look for the planet.”
“I agree, I’ll take the ship on the planet side.”
“That is agreeable, go to full speed and notify your children.”
“They are ready to attack, First Pilot.”
“As are mine. Come at them from behind their engines.”
“I will follow your lead.”
Matt watched the two small green ships pick up speed and thought, “They’re coming fast and will be on you in twenty minutes.”
“Matt, those ships are faster than I thought,” Al commented.
“They should be, Al. They have more than two hundred million years of taking all the technology from the civilizations they consume; they should have the best systems.”
“They don’t have power cell technology or the ability to teleport.”
“That’s why we cannot allow these two ships to escape if things go bad here.”
“Let’s hope these guns are all they’re cracked up to be, Matt.”
“I hope we don’t have to use them.”
“Me, too.”
“Your Grace, we have them on visual; we will initiate our plan in three minutes.”
“Carry on.”
“Al, give me a close up on my display when the Eight Legs land on the ships.” Matt immediately saw the ship headed toward the Searcher on his display and he focused on the bottom of the green ship closely to see how they penetrated ships so quickly.
“Prepare for contact,” the First Pilot announced and landed his ship on the small silver ship and then activated the ram. On the bottom of the green ship a large section separated and slammed down on the small ship under it. The eight Eight Leg Warriors were waiting in the tube for contact and as soon as it moved down they ran into the tube and found themselves standing on the surface of the silver ship as their ship bounced away from the surface. Then they saw two beings standing on each side of them raising their arms.
The First Pilot rocked in his chair as his ship bounced at high speed more than six miles from the surface of the ship he had just landed on. He saw his eight children standing on the silver ship’s surface with four beings firing some kind of hand weapon at them. “What’s happening here? How did they repel my ship?” Then he hit the engines and started back toward the small silver ship.
Brez and his three man team teleported to the surface of the ship just before the green ship made contact. The Green ship hit the surface of the Searcher vessel, slammed its bottom section against the surface of the silver ship, and bounced away so fast it was hard to see as it disappeared. Brez, his team, and the Eight Legs were all standing there watching the ship disappear overhead. Then they all looked down and saw each other. Brez raised his gun and shouted “Fire,” over his suit com. The four Red warriors started firing at the Eight Legs as they turned and came at them in pairs. Brez saw that the Eight Leg he had trained his weapon on was shuttering as the marble sized projectiles started hitting it but it was still coming fast. He couldn’t quit shooting at it to fire at the second coming at him until the first one was stopped. He trained the gun on the head of the Eight Leg and it finally fell. The second one was close and he knew that the gun wouldn’t stop it in time. He grabbed the sword strapped to his back and drew it then struck at the Eight Leg just as it arrived four feet from him. Brez didn’t know if the coating of his armor would protect him and these creatures were blazingly quick. He only had time to raise the sword and bring it down with the full power of his armor on the onrushing green creature that had bared its fangs. The sword hit the Eight Leg in the middle of its head and split the creature the full length of the sword. It fell immediately. “Use your swords,” he shouted over his com, “the guns won’t stop them.”
Juck had the same thing happen to him but he had an advantage that Brez didn’t have; four arms. He had taken three swords out as soon as he teleported to the ship’s hull and was holding them as the two green creatures rushed at him. He continued to fire his gun at the first one rushing at him but used his other three arms to swing the swords in an intricate pattern in front of him. The two Eight legs that had attacked him ran into a threshing machine and were cut apart so quickly that pieces flew off into space.
The other two Red Warriors were not so lucky. One of them waited too late to draw his sword and the Eight Leg hit him and sank its fangs into his shoulder. The fangs penetrated through the iron tree coating and even went through the hardened armor underneath. The Eight Leg died but the Red Warrior felt the poison enter his arm and he fell with the dying attacker. The other Red Warrior had the misfortune of drawing his sword and losing it as the Eight Leg hit him at full speed. Both of them flew off the ships surface and the Eight Leg sunk his fangs into the chest of the Red Warrior. The remaining two Eight Legs stood away from Brez and Juck not daring to approach the swords. Brez and Juck moved forward and herded the two creatures toward the front of the ship.
“Al, I think the warriors have had enough of a trial. Can you eliminate the two left?”
Brez and Juck were getting closer to the two Eight Legs but suddenly the two were blown apart by projectiles that slammed in to them. The dead creatures slipped off the surface of the ship and floated away.
Brez commed Juck, “Go check on Zip.” Juck turned and ran to the warrior that was down with the Eight Leg still holding on with its fangs. Brez teleported to the other ship’s hull and moved forward with his sword.
On the surface of the second ship, which landed five seconds after the first, the four Red Warriors heard Brez’s warning and drew their swords while continuing to fire on the Ei
ght Legs as they advanced. The two man teams had one kneel and continue firing while the other stood just behind him and used their sword to hit any that came close. One of the Red Warriors that was kneeling was hit by a rushing eight Leg and was bitten through his armor just as his teammate hit it and killed it. Brez rushed one of the creatures as it was about to bite a warrior and hit it with his sword as hard as he could swing it and watched as it was cut into two pieces.
Both of the pilots of the green ships saw their children being killed as they returned. The shock of that stunned them but they gathered their senses and the First Pilot shouted, “Escape, we must inform the family. The two green ships stopped just before touching the surface of the two silver ships and turned to escape. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the front of the green ship was struck by a series of ten foot long sharpened white projectiles. The first five projectiles bounced off but left cracks in the surface. The next projectile broke through the surface and shattered into thousands of needles inside the craft. The First Pilot’s last thought just before the shards hit him and cut him into small pieces was, “I guess this is the advanced life form we’re suppose to find.”
Al saw the green ship come to a stop and then looked for Fly Girl. The second green ship was hanging motionless and Fly Girl was stopped five hundred yards from it.
“Your Grace, I am teleporting my three injured warriors to Ross,” Brez commed.
“Send them immediately. I’ll meet with you after they are gone.”
“Yes, Your Grace. One of the creatures flew off the ship and is hanging in space. It is continuing to bite the Red Warrior it has attached itself to and I’m afraid that he is beyond hope. It has probably consumed all of his memories; I am going to teleport out and kill it.”
“Before you do, Colonel, does your gun have the capability to change velocities?”
“Yes, it does; we just didn’t have time to experiment before they were on us.”
“I was able to see that your projectiles flew through the creatures. Slow your velocity down to its lowest setting and then raise it until it penetrates the creature’s armor. Don’t get too close; I don’t know if they have maneuvering capability.”
Brez teleported out to five hundred feet from the Eight Leg that had killed his warrior and raised his gun.
The Eight Leg let go of the dead warrior and turned to face the being that had just appeared. It had just consumed the warrior’s brain so it knew everything about this dangerous civilization. It knew that these creatures were a real danger to the family but there was no way for it to escape and give warning. It had lived more than a million years and it saw its end just in front of it. It bared its fangs and tried to move toward the being confronting it.
Brez fired his gun on its lowest setting and saw the projectile bounce off the creatures green surface. The next four settings bounced off but the fifth penetrated and Brez saw the creature bounce in five different directions before the projectile exited its body and flew off into space. The creature hung motionless and its fangs no longer moved. “Did you record that?”
“Yes we did, Team Leader.”
“We don’t have long; Al, call in the defender class vessels and have one take these two ships and the dead Eight Legs to the Algeans to study. I want the others to sweep this system and collect any of the weapons we used. They won’t be far from this location and I need it done quickly. These two ships will be missed and I think that if they are not heard from within ten hours, the mother ship will come here. All ships sweeping the system will keep their red screens active and work until they can no longer safely do so. I am going to move Hugon out of this system and remove the red screen here. We are not ready to take them on yet and I know they will examine this system down to the microscopic level. There’s no way for the planet to go unnoticed. Stem, do you agree?”
“Yes, I do; the planet will be moved to the first galaxy the invaders visited in twenty minutes. The population is being informed of the move as we speak. Should we move one of the barren planets here that’s about the same size and blow it up? That would explain why they did not see any life in this system”
“I don’t think so; they would see that the remains of the planet would still be hot from the beam.”
“True, but they won’t know if the heat was generated recently or if the planet is just now cooling to that temperature.”
Matt cocked his head and thought, “Melanie, what do you think about that idea?”
“I would do it. Even if they discover that the blast was recent, how are they going to explain it? Either way, it may keep them here longer and allow other civilizations to live.”
“You’re right; Stem, bring in a barren planet and we’ll hit it with our beam.”
“It will arrive in an hour.”
“I have another suggestion,” Melanie thought. “All of our ships still have their power cells. Why not just line the defenders up and over lap their screens and move through the area of the attack. Anything that hits their screeds would be burned out of existence.”
Matt looked at her on his display and shook his head, “Melanie, please issue the orders.
Fifty defender class vessels arrived and began running through the system burning the marble projectiles and the shattered stone tree missiles. The thousands of marbles were going to be a problem; more than five thousand had been fired that had gone straight through the Eight Legs and were scattered in all directions and there wasn’t much time left to clean up. Hopefully they would all be destroyed.
The Sensor Male watched his display as the new planet grew as they came closer. The Ship’s Male looked at him, “It’s time to launch our transports.”
The Sensor Male didn’t respond. The Ship’s Male looked at him and said, “Did you hear the order?”
The Sensor Male looked at his board and said, “First Fang, the two vessels have been gone thirty dihls. They should have reported by now.”
The Ship’s Male looked at his display and saw the planet they were approaching. The ships sent out to defend it had already been killed and there was nothing between them and the planet. He thought for a moment and then ordered, “Recall all ships. Start moving out immediately.”
The Eight Legs that had left the small attack craft that had already landed turned and moved quickly back to their ships and lifted from the planet. The planet’s inhabitants that were being eaten alive wondered what had happened to save them from this nightmare. They watched as the giant planet sized ship turned and moved away.
The red screened probe relayed the feed to Fleet Command and the Searcher commed Aladdin. “They’re on their way,” Al said.
Matt punched his com, “Alright, wrap it up. All defender class vessels will depart in three hours and the Searcher Class ships will leave as soon as the mother ship arrives at the jump limit. There will be millions of their ships flying high speed through this system and I’ll not risk a possible collision.”
The Ship’s Male pressed his communicator, “Yes.”
“Supreme Male, I sent two attack craft to investigate a system and they are overdue. I am moving to that system to investigate; it may be nothing but I feel I should keep you informed.”
“Do not go into that system with the main ship. Contact me as soon as you arrive and be sure to inform me as to what you find.”
“It will be done as you order.”
The Ship’s Male looked at the Sensor Male, “Inform me immediately if the two arrive before we can leave this system.”
“I have already planned to do so and I am keeping my sensors focused on the jump point.”
The Ship’s Male was worried. This didn’t feel right and he watched his display all the way to the jump point.
Matt and Melanie sat on board Aladdin as Matt watched in his mind as the huge mother ship arrive at the Hugon system. It stayed at the jump limit while all of its ships left and began moving in system. Melanie watched with him as she entered his mind. “Why are you worried?”
M
att sighed and shrugged, “They will know this time that the two ships were destroyed.”
Melanie thought a moment said, “They didn’t find all of the marbles.”
“I don’t know but that’s not what will give us away.” Melanie thought for a moment and then looked up at him with furrowed brows. “Melanie, we had to hit those ships multiple times to break through their hulls. I’m certain that small pieces cracked off before we broke through; our sensors wouldn’t be able to track them and our screens would not destroy them; that is what will tell them that we killed those ships.”
Melanie nodded slowly, “One never knows Matt. If they go find one of those balls I’m sure that it will have residue from the Eight Leg it went through. The tiny remnants of their ships, however, are in a very small area of space. Our chances are not as bad as you might think.”
“I would normally agree with you but I sense the full invasion beginning in three months. We are going to have to kill that mother ship before it begins; once there are millions of them in our universe it will be too dangerous to experiment on one. We have a very small window of opportunity here and we have to move quickly to use it.”
“Well, at least we know the Red Warrior’s guns fired too fast and the ship’s guns fired too slowly. We have at least a point to move forward in our weapon development.”
“Perhaps, let’s teleport to see what the Algeans have learned about those ships we captured. The probe will let us know if they find anything.”
“Fly Girl, will you follow us; I’m going to stay on Aladdin for a while.’
“I’m right behind you.”
The second Reg looked at the first and thought, “They are making amazing progress, brother.”
“It’s still not fast enough. I worry about the numbers coming.”
“Let’s see if they get the help they need.”
“Do you think they will remember?”
“I can only hope they do.”
The Ship’s Male watched as his millions of ships combed the solar system for a clue as to what happened to the two missing ships. Three missing children was one thing but missing ships was an order of magnitude greater. The planet that was being investigated was burning brightly. He looked at the Sensor Male and asked, “Does this match up with your data?”
